Hohhot backpedals on removal of property curbs

Regulators in Hohhot, the capital of northern China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, has withdrawn a statement relating to the removal of property purchase limits from the local government website, five days after the announcement was made, China Business News reported Thursday.

On June 20, the local government issued an online notice that the registration system for commercial housing sales will be removed, residents buying homes in the open market will no longer need to provide property ownership records and officials will not check records for previous transactions.

The move came after the city’s new-home prices have flatlined for three straight months since March, and followed similar actions launched this year by other cities, including Nanning in Guangxi region and Wuxi in Jiangsu province.

“The notice was withdrawn probably because directly scrapping property purchase limits was too drastic a move and would involve some political risk,” said Zhang Dawei, an analyst with property agent Centaline Group. He also indicated that the earlier move has not secured approval from the central government.

Amid a slowdown in the property market, several cities have eased home purchase restrictions, stepped up mortgage loan approvals and adjusted the registration system for residents, Zhang said, adding that more than 30 cities are expected to unveil such moves this year.

However, the impact of such moves is likely to be limited unless the central government relaxes its monetary policy, he said.

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